It’s more than 90 years old. It’ll lie to you, it’ll show you some exotic things you’ve never seen before, and it might even set a few records while you’re watching.

Welcome to the 90th edition of the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo.

The fishing action takes place Friday-Sunday, July 21-23 after a liar’s contest and other preliminary festivities Thursday evening on Dauphin Island. If recent years are any indication, well over 3,000 anglers will take part. Exactly how many is hard to say in advance, but it’ll be a lot.

“Everybody waits” to buy a ticket, said Matt Glass, VP of publicity for the event presented by the Mobile Jaycees. “They want to see that five- to seven-day forecast.”

“I have no reason to think it’s going to be any smaller than it has been in past years,” said Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier. “They’ve been getting around 3,500 anglers, or more.”

One thing that sets the ADSFR apart is that, over its considerable history, it has become a major spectator event as well as a fishing tournament. That starts with the traditional Capt. T-Bone Liar’s Contest, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the rodeo site on Dauphin Island. You have to be a Rodeo ticketholder to tell a whopper, but anybody can walk up and listen to some of the most outlandish fish tales you’ll ever hear.

Throughout the three days that follow, the rodeo site will be open with no admission charge for spectators as competitors bring in their trophies. It’s hard to predict when the action will be hottest, but Saturday afternoon is a prime time to see a steady stream of boats pulling up to the dock. Bigger fish are lifted by a crane for weighing, and many are submitted for a quick examination by scientists from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, who take measurements and samples on certain species.

Opportunities to get a close look at some of the fish include a live display tank and an iced display area that often contains some of the most unusual sea life brought in by participants. Glass said that Sea Lab personnel will staff this area and answer questions from onlookers.

Other attractions include food concessions, vendor displays and live entertainment.

“I was out there last year and I was amazed at how many kids were there,” said Collier. “Families with small children that wanted to come see all the fish. That’s just a good thing all the way around. It gets them accustomed to fishing, but also it exposes them to Dauphin Island.”

Glass said there’s been “a lot of hype” around the fact that this is the 90th edition. The rodeo was founded in 1929 and has missed only a few years. The most recent gap was in 2010 and was caused by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. When that cancellation was announced, rodeo officials said there had been only three other missed years: One during the Great Depression and two during World War II. Even the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t cause a cancellation: The public festivities were shut down, but the fishing went on.

Glass said that this year anglers will be competing for prize packages totaling around $450,000 in value.

For visitors, Collier endorsed the standard parking advice: If there’s a “no parking” sign there, don’t park there. Otherwise, you’re probably okay. Glass offered another tip: When it comes to getting one of the coveted rodeo T-shirts, it’s “the sooner the better.”

“We do buy a limited quantity, and once we’re out, we’re out,” he said.

For traffic arriving via the bridge, the rodeo site is to the right shortly after the road reaches the island. Full rodeo information, including ticket sales, leaderboards, rules and more, can be found at adsfr.com.

Schedule highlights:

6:30 p.m. Thursday – Captain T-Bone’s Liar’s Contest

7:30 p.m. Thursday – Live Music from the Bruce Smelley Band

5 a.m. Friday – A cannon blast signals the start of the tournament

10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Friday – weigh station open

7:30 p.m. Friday – live music from Fly By Radio

10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday – weigh station open

2 p.m. Saturday – live music from Brandon Blackburn

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday – weigh station open

1 p.m. Sunday – live music from “The Mailman” Keith Burns

5 p.m. Sunday – Cannon blast signals close of tournament

6:30 p.m. Sunday – Contender Boats random drawing & Meadows Electric

random drawing

6 p.m. Monday – Contender Boats Awards Ceremony at The Grounds in Mobile

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